Friday (5/3) – The Dow and S&P 500 advanced to all-time closing highs, with major indexes jumping 1 percent after an unexpectedly strong April jobs report eased concerns about an economic slowdown.

(S&P 500 +1.1%)

For the previous week, Dow closed up 1.8%, the S&P gained 2.0% and the Nasdaq added 3.0%

To begin the current week, the S&P 500 is up approx. 13.2% in the year-to-date period.

– Technical Update: In the latest week, the S&P 500 set a new all time high finishing above 1,600 for the first time in history. After rebounding off the 1,540 support level two weeks ago, following the sell-off in Gold and Boston bombings, the S&P has moved steadily higher with the Index finally breaching the 1,600 level this past Friday. Looking ahead, chart watchers and the electronic program trading community will most likely maintain a bullish bias on equities as long as we remain above the market’s 1,570 – 1,575 support band. However, a pullback below this range could trigger a heavy round of short-term technical sell pressure.

Key Technical Levels (S&P 500):

On the upside (resistance) – 1,615 (new all-time intra-day high)

On the downside (support) – 1,600, 1,570 – 1,575, 1,550, 1,540 & 1,525-1,530 are the next major marks in range on the charts.

– CorporateEarnings: Corporate earnings continue at slightly less aggressive pace this week with 46 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report. As of 5/3/13, of the 395 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for Q1 2013, 68% have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This is higher than the long-term average of 63% and higher than the average over the past four quarters of 67%. On the revenue front, 46% of companies have reported Q1 2013 revenue above analyst expectations. This is significantly lower than the long-term average of 62% and lower than the average over the past four quarters of 52%. See below for full list of corporate earnings reports.

– Crude Oil: To begin the week, NYMEX WTI Crude Oil is trading around the $95.00 a barrel level & Brent Crude is trading near $104.00 a barrel. In the 2013 YTD period, NYMEX WTI Crude Oil is up 2% while Brent Crude is down over 3%.